The 100 Best Rap Singles of 1990: The Automator
This is the second release from Bay Area producer Dan “the Automator” Nakamura, who’d later find fame as part of Dr. Octagon and Gorillaz.
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The 100 Best Rap Singles of 1990: A.N.M.
Before Mike D found fame with the Screwed Up Click, he starred in A.N.M., a short-lived group signed to Lil Troy’s production company.
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The 100 Best Rap Singles of 1990
The 100 best rap singles of 1990 found the hip-hop nation reckoning with an audience that may have not fully appreciated Black culture.
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On Quasimoto’s The Unseen
Twenty years ago today, Madlib released The Unseen as Quasimoto. This San Francisco Bay Guardian essay was published at its initial release.
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2020 Protest Raps: Music for the American Spring
These protest songs fulfill a tradition: when a crisis hits the Black community, the musicians shift to address it.
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Rap Songs for Home
As the coronavirus epidemic continues to roil the globe, this playlist of rap songs is assembled the meaning of the word “home.”
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Rap Art in the Coronavirus Era
As the world adapts to life under a global pandemic, the album art of several recent rap releases is having a noticeable impact.
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10 Great Artists I Saw Get Booed/Heckled in Concert
A list of famous artists that I saw get booed and/or heckled in concert.
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Focus On: Boom Clap Bachelors
This brief history tells the story of Boom Clap Bachelors, the enigmatic Danish electronic soul collective.
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First Wave Hip-House: 1988-1990
As a shotgun marriage between two hot springs of black innovation, hip-house’s reputation lies between unalloyed club bliss and pop kitsch.
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Madlib, the Instrumentalist
Madlib is one of the most acclaimed hip-hop producers of the past two decades. But his instrumentals often go unnoticed.
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Star Wars Funk
George Lucas’ Star Wars hit America like a pop culture meteor in the summer of 1977. The R&B scene wasn’t immune from the impact.